AP/CE/I/4: Report
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AP/CE/I/4 ORIGINAL: English WIPO DATE: September 19, 1997 WORLD INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY ORGANIZATION GENEVA COMMITTEE OF EXPERTS ON A PROTOCOL CONCERNING AUDIOVISUAL PERFORMANCES Geneva, September 15, 16 and 19, 1997 REPORT adopted by the Committee I. INTRODUCTION . In pursuance of the decision taken by the Governing Bodies of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) and the Unions administered by WIPO at the thirtieth Series of Meetings in Geneva, on March 20 and 21, 1997 (see document AB/XXX/4, items 3 and 4), the Director General of WIPO convened a Committee of Experts on a Protocol concerning Audiovisual Performances (hereinafter referred to as “the Committee”) at the headquarters of WIPO, in Geneva, on September 15, 16 and 19, 1997. 2. Experts of the following 91 States and one intergovernmental organization, members of the Committee, attended the meeting: Algeria, Angola, Argentina, Armenia, Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Belgium, Bolivia, Brazil, Brunei Darussalam, Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Canada, Chile, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, Côte d’Ivoire, Croatia, Cuba, Czech Republic, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Denmark, Ecuador, Egypt, Eritrea, Estonia, Finland, France, Gambia, Germany, Ghana, Greece, Guatemala, Honduras, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Jordan, Kazakstan, Kenya, Kyrgyzstan, r:\intranet\www\eng\meetings\audper97\doc\apce1_4.doc AP/CE/I/4 page 2 Lesotho, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malawi, Malaysia, Malta, Mexico, Mongolia, Morocco, Netherlands, Nigeria, Norway, Pakistan, Panama, Peru, Philippines, Portugal, Republic of Korea, Republic of Moldova, Romania, Russian Federation, Senegal, Singapore, Slovakia, South Africa, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Sweden, Switzerland, Tajikistan, Thailand, Togo, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States of America, Uruguay, Uzbekistan, Venezuela, Viet Nam, and the Commission of the European Communities. 3. Representatives of the following five intergovernmental organizations attended the meeting in observer capacity: International Labour Organization (ILO), International Telecommunication Union (ITU), Agency for Cultural and Technical Cooperation (AGECOP), Organization of African Unity (OAU), and World Trade Organization (WTO). 4. Representatives of the following 38 non-governmental organizations attended the meeting in observer capacity: Agence pour la protection des programmes (APP), American Bar Association (ABA), American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA), American Film Marketing Association (AFMA), Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union (ABU), Association of Commercial Television in Europe (ACT), Association of European Performers’ Organisations (AEPO), Association for the International Collective Management of Audiovisual Works (AGICOA), Caribbean Broadcasting Union (CBU), Comité “Actores, Intérpretes” (CSAI), Conseil francophone de la chanson (CFC), Copyright Research and Information Center (CRIC), European Broadcasting Union (EBU), European Project-Digital Video Broadcasting (DVB), Groupement européen représentant les organismes de gestion collective des droits des artistes interprètes ou exécutants (ARTIS GEIE), Ibero-Latin- American Federation of Performers (FILAIE), Information Industry Association (IIA), Information Technology Association of America (ITAA), Interamerican Copyright Institute (IIDA), International Affiliation of Writers Guilds (IAWG), International Alliance of Orchestra Associations (IAOA), International Association of Broadcasting (IAB), International Bar Association (IBA), International Confederation of Societies of Authors and Composers (CISAC), International Council of Scientific Unions (ICSU), International Federation of Actors (FIA), International Federation of Associations of Film Distributors (FIAD), International Federation of Film Producers Associations (FIAPF), International Federation of Musicians (FIM), International Federation of Reproduction Rights Organizations (IFRRO), International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI), International Intellectual Property Alliance (IIPA), International Publishers Association (IPA), Max-Planck-Institute for Foreign and International Patent, Copyright and Competition Law (MPI), Performing Arts Employers Associations League Europe (PEARLE), Union of Industrial and Employers’ Confederations of Europe (UNICE), Union of National Radio and Television Organizations of Africa (URTNA) and World Federation of Music Schools (WFMS). 5. The list of participants is attached to this report. AP/CE/I/4 page 3 II. OPENING OF THE MEETING 6. A representative of the International Bureau of WIPO welcomed the participants and opened the meeting. III. ELECTION OF OFFICERS 7. Mr. Jukka Liedes (Finland) was unanimously elected Chairman, and Mrs. Hilda Retondo (Argentina) and Mr. Shen Rengan (China) were unanimously elected Vice-Chairmen of the Committee. IV. EXAMINATION OF QUESTIONS RELATED TO A PROTOCOL CONCERNING AUDIOVISUAL PERFORMANCES 8. Discussions were based on the memoranda prepared by the International Bureau of WIPO, in accordance with the decision mentioned in paragraph 1, entitled: – Existing national and regional legislation concerning audiovisual performances (document AP/CE/I/2); and – Information received from Member States of WIPO and from the European Community concerning audiovisual performances (documents AP/CE/I/3 and 3 Add.). 9. The Secretariat noted the interventions made and recorded on tape. The statements ∗ made during the debate are reflected in the Annex to this report. 10. The Chairman summarized the general discussion in the following way: The discussion had been very useful. Many delegations had expressed regret that protection of performers with respect to audiovisual performances was not included in the WIPO Performances and Phonograms Treaty (WPPT). All delegations had reaffirmed that the work on a Protocol addressing this issue should continue in the framework of WIPO. Specific aspects that delegations had mentioned were, in particular: the possible scope of the protection, the specific rights to be granted to performers, the aspect of moral as well as of economic rights, the objective of obtaining protection for performers as much in parallel as possible with the protection of authors, the desire to do away with discrimination of audiovisual performers in respect of their legal protection. On the other hand, it had also been pointed out that the Berne Convention contained specific rules on cinematographic works. The need for a flexible treaty had been underlined, namely that it should be adapted to divergent concepts in national legislations and to the realities, i.e., contractual practices, collective bargaining and collective management of rights. Further elements mentioned had been the principle of national ∗ The Annex will be sent separately for written approval and distributed later. AP/CE/I/4 page 4 treatment and the issues of transferability of rights and applicable law. A pragmatic approach had been felt suitable. To take the WPPT as a starting point, would simplify the further debate. The Protocol should be of a complementary nature, in relation to the WPPT. The appropriate maxim for the forthcoming negotiations should be: compromise and commitment. 11. The Chairman noted that the memoranda prepared by the International Bureau for the current meeting had been useful. As far as amendments or additions to the memoranda requested by some delegations were concerned, it was agreed that the Secretariat would duly reflect their contents in the annex to this report mentioned in paragraph 9. V. FUTURE WORK 12. The Committee adopted the following decision: (i) the second session of the Committee should take place in the period of May- June 1998, but not later than during the week starting June 8, 1998; it is recommended that the Governing Bodies of WIPO take a decision about the dates of the second session during their September-October 1997 series of meetings; (ii) the International Bureau should invite the Governments of WIPO Member States and the European Community to submit by January 15, 1998, proposals, preferably in treaty language, concerning a protocol to the WIPO Performances and Phonograms Treaty on audiovisual performances; (iii) the International Bureau should distribute the proposals, together with comparative tables, if appropriate, by the end of February 1998, to those invited to the second session of the Committee who should be the same as those invited to the first session; (iv) regional consultation meetings should be organized by WIPO in consultation with the representatives of the regional groups in March-April 1998; it is recommended that the Governing Bodies of WIPO take a decision about the financing of the participation of the representatives of the regional groups, during the September- October 1997 series of meetings of the Governing Bodies. 13. The Delegation of Côte d’Ivoire, on behalf of the African Group, the Delegation of Ecuador, on behalf of the Group of Latin American and the Caribbean countries, and the Delegation of Singapore, on behalf of the Asian Group, and supported by the Delegation of China, underlined the need for financial support by WIPO for the participation of representatives of countries from these regional groups in the regional consultation meetings. Those Delegations referred to the way in which participation in the regional consultation meetings, that had been held in the autumn of 1996 in preparation of the WIPO Diplomatic